Kiss Me Under The Light Of A Thousand Stars

                                    

                                          
Kiss Me Under The Lights Of A Thousand Stars by alisvolatpropiis
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"Why do you smell like magic?"
                          
The question catches Stiles off guard, making him stumble slightly as he lets himself in Derek's front door. "Um...no reason. I was just reading some of Deaton's musty old books. Must be residual witch-spores on them or something." Stiles' heart is skipping fast, and his scent is clouded with nerves as well as the fresh earth and ozone smell of spell work.
                          
Derek's eyes narrow in suspicion as he watches him shuffle through the living room, tossing down his keys and the stack of DVDs he brought for pack movie night. "Pizza here already?" Stiles asks, brushing past Derek and into the kitchen, darting his eyes up to Derek's, expectant almost, and then quickly away. Something is definitely up with him, but Derek decides not to push it. Yet. After all, part of the reason Derek agreed to host a pack movie night on Valentine's Day was precisely because Stiles seemed to need it so badly, and he doesn't want to ruin it before it even starts.
                          
Predictably, the pack has all coupled off into serious relationships in the years since they've all moved back to Beacon Hills after college; Erica and Boyd are engaged, Lydia and Allison just bought a house together, Scott and Kira recently celebrated their two year anniversary, and even Liam and Mason, both college sophomores, recently began dating each other.
                          
Perpetually Single Stiles, as he's taken to calling himself in his more maudlin moments, hasn't been handling it well. Of course, he's supportive and happy for his friends, puts on a good show, but Derek can tell just how much it strains him, how much it bothers him that he's still single while of his friends partner off, and how it's gotten worse in the weeks leading up to the dreaded holiday. So Derek had entertained Stiles' rants against the "heteronormative, fairy-tale bullshit, corporate farce that is Valentine's Day," and had supported his efforts in convincing the pack that they should all boycott in solidarity. To Derek's surprise, they had all gone along with it, agreeing to pizza and movies instead of romance.
                          
(Of course, for the past week, Derek has smelled nothing but flowers and chocolate and sex on them, confirming his suspicion that their coupled friends have just decided to keep their Valentine's Day celebrations to themselves for Stiles' sake. And Derek also hasn't pointed out to Stiles that he too is single, has been since Braeden, years now, longer than Stiles has been single in fact, because Derek certainly hasn't forgotten that douche of a boyfriend he had his junior year of college).
                          
"Dude, I thought we agreed no Valentine's Day crap!" Stiles yells from the kitchen. Derek follows the sound of his indignant voice to find him standing next to the island in the kitchen where the pizzas, delivered just before Stiles arrived, are stacked, the open box on top the cause of Stiles' offense. "Heart-shaped pizza, Derek? With heart-shaped pepperoni? Are you shitting me?"
                          
"They were on special," Derek shrugs, grabbing a couple of beers from the fridge.
                          
"Yeah, and I'm sure you really need to save the money," he mutters, taking the beer Derek offers him.
                          
"Are you sure you're okay?" Derek asks. "You're acting really weird." This close, Stiles leaning against the island and Derek leaning next to the sink, he can see that Stiles' cheeks are flushed, and that his pupils are big and dark, almost eclipsing the honeyed brown of his irises, a common side effect of casting magic. And Stiles is even more anxious and jittery than usual, can't stop tapping his fingers against the beer bottle, twisting his other hand in the tail of his plaid shirt, keeps staring at him, seeking, and then darting his eyes away in something like hopeful embarrassment that Derek finds very confusing.
                          
(Derek long ago grew accustomed to the way Stiles stares at him sometimes, knows it doesn't mean anything, because, well, a lot of people look at him that way. Isaac used to a lot, and Erica still does sometimes, which just makes Boyd laugh and shake his head. It's not like Stiles actually likes Derek romantically, or would even consider him anything more than just a hook up if something were to happen between them, which is exactly why Derek hasn't responded to Stiles' obvious attraction to him, knows damn well how that would destroy him, Stiles only wanting him for sex.)